| Hamden Fire Retirees Association, Inc. |
 |
| CLICK here for daily flag status |
|
|
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2017
Website is updated every Friday - Important interim updates will be posted when necessary
Next regular update is Friday, December 15th.
|
 |
| CLICK to monitor HFD radio |
|
|
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
|
 |
| Town Clerk Vera Morrison administers oath to Ff. Parmelee |
|
| The department welcomed its newest member last Monday morning when Hamden Town Clerk Vera Morrison administered the oath to recruit Firefighter/Paramedic Christopher R. Parmelee before family, friends and dozens of department members who were assembled in the rotunda of Hamden's Memorial Town Hall.
Parmelee, who resides in Branford, comes to the Hamden Fire Department following two and a half years of service in the West Shore Fire Department. He was employed previously by American Medical Response (AMR).
Beginning December 18th, Chris will be assigned to Platoon 3 at Station 4, under the direct supervision of Lieut. Dan Such. Until then he will be working with the training officer, Lieut. Charles Lubowicki Jr.
The members of the HFRA wish recruit Firefighter/Paramedic Parmelee a long, productive, and safe career with the department.
|
 |
| Chief Berardesca, Ff. Parmelee, and Dep. Chief Merwede |
|
|
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
|
90 Years Ago
December 10, 1927
Hamden Volunteer Firefighter Edward D. Meegan
Fatally Injured in the Line of Duty!
_____
His Sacrifice Was Forgotten for Over 8 Decades
|
 |
| Firefighter Edward D. Meegan |
|
In late 2012, while researching old newspaper articles for our website, information surfaced about a Hamden volunteer firefighter who was killed in the line of duty, a tragedy that all living retired Hamden firefighters believed our town had never experienced.
According to articles in The New Haven Journal-Courier and The New Haven Evening Register, on Saturday, December 10, 1927, the 31st anniversary of the founding of Hamden's first fire company, six volunteer firefighters and the paid driver of Centerville Co. 4 responded on Engine 4 to Box 57 in Highwood. At the Whitney Avenue bridge over Lake Whitney, the rear wheels of Co. 4’s Seagrave pumper got stuck in a raised trolley rail. The truck slued sizeways for sixty feet before striking a utility pole, breaking it off at the base.
Four of the seven firefighters on board were unhurt and two received minor injuries. The seventh firefighter, Edward D. Meegan, was hurled from the truck and died the next day from massive injuries.
The tragic death of Firefighter Meegan was covered extensively in New Haven newspapers and elsewhere. The town was in a state of mourning and the selectmen ordered flags to half-staff. Hamden town officials and all of Hamden’s fire companies turned out for Meegan’s funeral Mass at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Church, followed by his burial in St. John’s Cemetery in Middletown.
In subsequent investigations by New Haven Coroner Eli Mix and Hamden Fire Chief Charles Loller, the driver of the pumper was cleared of any wrong-doing in the freak accident. He continued to serve honorably as a Hamden career firefighter until his retirement in the mid-1950s.
Sadly, and for reasons unknown to anyone today, the story of Edward Meegan’s sacrifice seems to have ended in 1927. There is no mention of him in any fire company or department commemorative programs or histories, some of which were published only a few years after the accident. No one alive today in 2017, including a 98-year old former Hamden career firefighter who worked with one of the accident’s six survivors twenty-five years later, had ever heard of Edward Meegan.
Just why Firefighter Meegan’s line of duty death was forgotten in our department’s history is a sad and disturbing mystery, but we welcome the opportunity to properly honor him now.
Revised 12/8/17
|
Within hours, the accident was reported at the top of the front page of the New Haven Evening Register.
CLICK to enlarge
| The New Haven Journal-Courier
report of Meegan's death began on
Monday morning's front page.
|
 |
| CLICK to enlarge |
|
|
 |
| CLICK to enlarge |
|
|
 |
| c. 1927 - Hairpin turn at the bridge over Lake Whitney |
|
| Looking north, this is the hairpin turn on Whitney Avenue at the bridge over Lake Whitney. The roadway was straightened into an easy curve when a new bridge was constructed in the late 1930s. CLICK to enlarge.
(Photo courtesy of Joe Taylor)
|
 |
| New Haven Journal-Courier, Thursday, December 15, 1927 (from the Connecticut State Library microfilm collection) |
|
|
Meegan's Sacrifice Honored
December 10, 2012
|
 |
| Meegan's Co. 4 Badge |
|
On Monday, December 10, 2012, about eighty members of the Hamden Fire Department, past and present, career and volunteer, turned out to honor Hamden volunteer firefighter Edward D. Meegan on the 85th anniversary of the tragic accident that took his life.
In a brief ceremony at the Hamden Government Center, commencing at the same hour of Meegan's last alarm 85 years earlier, Mayor Scott D. Jackson issued a proclamation naming December 10, 2012 as "Edward D. Meegan Day in the Town of Hamden." The Mayor presented his proclamation to Mr. Meegan's goddaughter, Inez Meegan Shea of Mt. Carmel, who attended with her husband Phillip and son, Phillip, Jr. Mrs. Shea's father, William H. Meegan, was Firefighter Meegan's older brother.
Shortly after 11 on the morning of December 10, 1927, Edward Meegan, a volunteer firefighter with Centerville Co. 4, responded to a call with six others on Engine 4. As it was crossing a bridge over Lake Whitney, the 1925 Seagrave pumper contacted a raised trolley rail, spun out of control and struck a utility pole. Ff. Meegan sustained severe injuries and died the following day.
Addressing an audience of past and present career and volunteer officers and firefighters, Fire Chief David Berardesca noted, "The foundation of our department was built on individuals such as Edward Meegan - they made us what we are today . . . I am certain that our first fire chief in town, Charles Loller, was proud to serve with Edward, just as we are proud to serve his memory."
Department Chaplain, Rev. Owen Sanderson, read from a verse that is etched on a firefighters' memorial in Colorado. Retired HFD Capt. Dave Johnson, secretary and historian for the Hamden Fire Retirees Association, thanked all who attended and held up Mr. Meegan's badge, which Mrs. Shea donated to the HFRA for its archives and eventual display in a Hamden fire museum. Johnson said that the badge "will be treasured." He then introduced Mrs. Shea, who smiled and thanked everyone for the tribute to her uncle.
|
 |
| Mayor Jackson greets the Shea Family before the start of the ceremony |
|
|
 |
| Mayor's Proclamation - CLICK to enlarge |
|
|
 |
| Honor Guard (L-R) - Supt. Don Buechele, Capt. Ron Desroches, Ff. Craig Smart, Capt. Brion Tierney and Ff. Dave Beaton. Dept. Chaplain, Rev. Owen Sanderson in foreground. (Photos by Bob Mordecai) |
|
|
An honor guard comprised of five members of the Hamden Professional Firefighters Association, Local 2687, IAFF, stood at attention at the front of the room throughout the ceremony, which concluded with Capt. Ed Evers' moving rendition of "Amazing Grace" on the bagpipes.
__________
At their January 2013 meeting, the members of the Hamden Fire Retirees Association authorized the purchase a memorial plaque for Station 4 to permanently recognize Firefighter Meegan and his sacrifice in the line of duty. The Department will submit Firefighter Meegan's name for inclusion on the Connecticut State Firefighter's Memorial at Windsor Locks and the National Fallen Firefighters Memorial at Emmitsburg.
12/8/17
|
 |
| A large number of attendees stuck around for this group photo with the Shea Family. CLICK to enlarge. |
|
|
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
|
Mack "Bulldog" Goes for a Dip
These three photos, courtesy of the Hamden Historical Society, were labeled "1937." It's pretty easy to see what happened. These may be the earliest of several HFRA website photos of motor vehicles that exchanged the Mather Street pavement for a swim in Lake Whitney.
Posted 12/8/17
|
 |
| The "I" inside the "M" logo stood for International Motor Truck Company, which became Mack Trucks in 1922. |
|
|
 |
| As late as the 1950s, you could hear one of these trucks coming from far off by the unique sound of the chain drive. |
|
|
The story behind this mishap is unknown. Because the truck was being towed from the water nose first, it may have been unloading its earthen payload along the embankment, then gravity took over and she went backwards into the drink.
Posted 12/8/17
|
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
|
 |
| Chief Paul Wetmore Sr. |
|
|
 |
| Ff. Bill LaVelle |
|
|
 |
| Ff. George Patten |
|
|
Fifty-six years ago this week, on December 11, 1961, The Hamden Board of Fire Commissioners appointed three new firefighters: George Patten, William LaVelle and Paul Wetmore Sr. All three started on the job January 2, 1962. Patten served for many years as a negotiator for the Hamden Paid Firemen's Sick Benefit Assn. and Local 2687, IAFF. He retired in 1995 and passed away in March 2003. LaVelle left the department in 1968 to go into business. Wetmore went on to serve as Chief of the Department from 1993 until his retirement in 1996.
|
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
|
Gov. Malloy Directs Flags to Half-Staff
Governor Dannel P. Malloy announced Wednesday that he is directing U.S. and State of Connecticut flags to be lowered to half-staff from sunrise to sunset on Thursday, December 14, 2017, in remembrance of the 20 children and 6 adults who were killed five years ago in the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown.
Posted 12/13/17
|
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
|
Hamden Firefighting
128 pages - 214 photos
Now on sale
HFRA price is only $19.00
Barnes & Noble, Amazon or directly from the HFRA
PayPal link for HFRA sales will be posted soon.
Profits from this sale will benefit the HFRA museum fund.
|
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
|
|
NEVER FORGET!
We will always remember our brother firefighters who made the supreme sacrifice, and the thousands of other innocent victims who lost their lives on September 11, 2001.
Always keep them, their families and the FDNY in your thoughts and prayers.
|
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
|
|
